26th Mar 2010, 16:11

I thought I'd enter an update on the Envoy. After 7 years and 86,000+ miles it is, in a word, FLAWLESS. We have had ZERO repairs and the only maintenance cost has been one battery, one fuel filter and 2 light bulbs. The original brake pads look good for another 15,000-25,000 miles. We virtually always get 100,000+ miles out of brake pads on Ford, GM and Chrysler vehicles.

The car runs, shifts and rides as good as the day it was bought new. The interior looks new, and we are looking at driving this one over a quarter of a million miles. Our only disappointment is that GM no longer makes the rugged, reliable truck-based Envoy.

17th Oct 2010, 07:41

I bought my Envoy two months ago third handed. So far we have replaced two front wheel bearings (under extended warranty).

The three low speeds on the front fan motor are not working, the two back speakers decided not to work and the rear heater/blower quit. I have not decided to repair these issues yet, but no doubt will, as I am thoroughly in love with the comfort and performance.

23 mpg Canadian on the highway.

The previous owners replaced the clutch fan and transmission, but that is really why I bought it... these things were already done, and I thought I should not run into anymore expensive repairs that were not covered under the soon to be expired warranty.

Any helpful thoughts on the speakers and heater controls?

17th Oct 2010, 10:16

"I have not decided to repair these issues yet, but no doubt will"

Oh you will be fixing this. It is a very common problem on the Trailblazer based trucks. Eventually all the speeds will not work, as it is the controller that is failing. We got to only speed 5 working, and then had it checked as it was really fun driving around in a hurricane! It wasn't cheap to fix, but I think around $200 or so.

Any issues you have with your truck... Google. Put it into Google and you'll find the solution to virtually every problem, as they are mostly common place with these trucks. I was able to research every last failure on ours, which unfortunately was a lot. We just traded it with 90K miles, still in need of almost $2K in repairs. Unacceptable level of quality as far as I'm concerned.

4th Apr 2011, 12:42

I just gave our 2003 Envoy its 100,000 mile check-up. As a mechanic I am amazed at the incredible condition of everything on this vehicle. Not a hint of wear or deterioration on any of the hoses, serpentine belt, suspension, exhaust or brake components. I purchased new front and rear brake pads, but the originals still had plenty of wear left. I installed the second battery only because the warranty had expired on the old one, and I was afraid my wife would get stuck with a dead battery. The battery and tires are the ONLY expense other than oil changes that this vehicle has required. I did not even replace the spark plugs, as the engine runs flawlessly and the fuel mileage has not dropped at all.

My wife is so pleased with this car that she has no plans to ever get rid of it. It looks, drives and feels just like a brand-new vehicle after 8 years of hard use.

4th Apr 2011, 16:30

I guess even GM can have one out of 10,000 that has no issues huh? I wish our family had that kind of luck with any of the TB/ Envoy's we've wasted good money on.

5th Apr 2011, 11:37

Our extended family currently owns 2 Trailblazers and one Envoy. Two of them have passed 100,000 miles with no problems, and the 2007 Trailblazer has not had a single issue in 45,000 miles thus far. We'd keep buying them if they were still built. As it is, we'll most likely move up to the larger Suburban.

5th Apr 2011, 17:57

Good luck with the $5 per gallon gas in your new Suburban. People are crazy to be buying those tanks these days. Just filled up, and it is $3.85 per gallon... in April. Can't wait until June! Glad I am only feeding 4 cylinders these days!

18th Jun 2011, 19:06

Another follow-up.

Our Envoy is coming up on 9 years and over 100,000 miles, and is still rock solid. We just took this vehicle on a 120-mile trip, and it rode, drove, handled and ran just as good as the day we drove it off the lot. Literally everything from bumper to bumper is totally like new inside and out. The interior (cloth) has no rips or wear spots, even on the driver's seat. The exterior is perfect. The paint is like brand new. Last year a lady in a Honda Accord hit the rear of the Envoy and totalled her car. I just buffed the paint (from the Honda) off of our bumper, and you can't even tell it was ever hit.

Mechanically the car has never had a brake job, tune-up, A/C servicing, alignment, transmission service, cooling system service or shocks. The total expense for the 100,000+ miles has been one set of tires and two batteries.

I installed a K&N million-mile air filter upon buying the car, and I clean it every 5,000-10,000 miles.

The oil (Castrol Syntech) is changed every 10,000 miles or so, and high-quality filters are used.

The engine does not use a drop of oil, and there is no hint of smoking even at start-up. I never even check the oil between changes, because it is not necessary.

I have never added a drop of fluid to the transmission, and only a tiny bit of brake fluid to the master cylinder. The coolant is the factory original, and still looks new and checks out to well below zero in freeze protection.

I realize a very tiny handful of these vehicles have had a few minor problems. Most of those were due to incompetent dealers who did not have technicians who were properly trained in dealing with the new computers on these cars. We knew this, and deliberately sought out a dealership that had well-trained and computer-certified technicians. Our computer was set right from day one, and we have never had a single problem.

One reason our cars hold up so well, is our determination to make ourselves aware of what does and does NOT need to be done to a car. In light service, GM does not recommend changing transmission fluid. We don't. To change it can even result in problems. The same is true of brake fluid and coolant changes. Not necessary, and can cause damage. If everything is working great, leave it alone.

We'd recommend one of these vehicles to anybody. Friends of ours have bought used ones based on our excellent experience. They have also been very pleased. Since GM stupidly dropped these great body-on-frame vehicles for flimsy front-drive unibody junk, we will drive this one for another 100,000 miles or more, and then hope to find a good used one with lower miles. This is the best new vehicle we have ever owned.